Author: Ronald

Abortion Rights Gain Massive Victory In Kansas, Making It An Issue In November Elections!

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In the wake of the shocking Supreme Court decision in Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June, reversing Roe V Wade and abortion rights, yesterday Kansas, a strong Republican and conservative state, chose to continue to keep abortion rights in the state constitution.

The vote was 59 percent to 41 percent, and the turnout was twice the normal amount in a midterm primary in Kansas, 900,000 votes, instead of about 450,000 votes.

This gives hope that abortion rights will be a major issue in November, and help Democrats keep control of Congress and win many state election contests.

Women, young people, and educated suburbanites are seen as outraged by the Supreme Court taking away a right granted 49 years ago, and hopefully, abortion rights will be protected after the election, as pro choice people are going to fight tooth and nail in every state, as they just did in the “Sunflower State”!

Today’s Primaries Are Crucial For The Future

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Five states are holding primaries today, and they are crucial for the future.

In Kansas, those who vote can insure the continuation of abortion rights, or make Kansas a backward, oppressive state.

In Missouri, we could end up having a former governor, Eric Greitens, accused of sexual and physical abuse of others, including his former wife and children, become the Republican nominee for the US Senate!

There are primaries for three Republican House members who voted to impeach Donald Trump, one in Michigan, and two in Washington state.

And Arizona looks as if it is on the way to nomination of Republicans who are promoters of the “Big Lie”, that Donald Trump won the Presidential Election of 2020, not President Joe Biden.

This is a scary, troubling time, and could portend greater grief and suffering in the future!

New Third Party Movement, “Forward”, Formed By Andrew Yang, Christine Todd Whitman, David Jolly!

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A new third party movement, known as “Forward”, has been formed by former Democratic Presidential and New York City Mayoral contender Andrew Yang; former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush; and former Republican one term Congressman David Jolly of Florida, now a political commentator on MSNBC.

Already, there is strong criticism that such a movement will hurt the Democrats more than the Republicans, at a time when Donald Trump and the extreme right wing that controls the Republican Party is a clear and present danger to American democracy.

One has to wonder if any substantial political leaders will join the “Forward” party, as right now, it comes across that its leadership is not very impressive nor “heavy weight” in any sense!

Lunatic And Incompetent Republican Candidates Abound For 2022 Midterm Elections!

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The Republican Party has, and is in the process of nominating candidates for public office, who are clearly lunatic and incompetent.

No wonder national Republican leadership is alarmed, and why Democrats are raising much greater amounts of campaign funds and leading in many polls.

So we have Pennsylvania with very dangerous Gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, who consorts with white supremacists and antisemites; and Dr. Mehmet Oz, running for the US Senate, who has made a fool of himself, and undermined his television reputation, and is not even a resident of Pennsylvania, rather New Jersey.

And we have Georgia, where former football star Herschel Walker, running for the US Senate, has been caught in lies about his past, and makes totally loony statements, making one wonder if he suffers from brain damage from his football career.

And we have author J D Vance in Ohio, running for the US Senate, who is shown to have changed all his views from five years ago, and now says abused women should not leave their husbands or live in boyfriends, but just stay in the horrendous relationship with their children, a statement that makes one wonder as to Vance’s sanity.

And in Maryland, the candidates for Governor and Attorney General on the Republican side, Dan Cox and Michael Peroutka, are showing they are totally outside the mainstream in alarming ways!

And there are still primary contests to come that are potentially alarming, particularly if Eric Greitens, former disgraced Missouri Governor, ends up as the Republican nominee for the US Senate!

Crisis Of Teacher Shortage, But Solution Is NOT To Allow Veterans Without Four Year Degree To Teach!

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There is a growing crisis of teacher shortage in the nation, and particularly in some “Red” States, including Florida and Arizona among others.

So the suggestion is to put veterans without a four year degree into the classroom, an idea that is totally lunatic in nature!

Would one put a veteran without a four year degree into the field of medicine, law, accounting and other fields and think they could perform the responsibilities of the position competently?

The reasons for massive teacher shortages are clear!

Teachers are not paid and given benefits in respect of their expertise and role in educating children.

Teachers are being told they cannot deal with the reality of history and science, and also of sexuality in the classroom.

Teachers are being controlled by right wing religious doctrine, and by school boards that have unqualified men and women who want to control the classroom curriculums, despite many of them having no education or expertise to do so.

Republicans want to interfere with libraries as well as schools, and in such an atmosphere, why would any principled educator wish to teach with such economic, religious, and psychological pressures?

This blogger and educator, in today’s environment, could not imagine going into the teaching profession, particularly under the college level!

As a result, many talented, educated, brilliant potential educators are being lost for future generations of students, and the ignorance and bias being promoted only promote inferiority in education in the short run, and the long run!

Republicans And Veterans: Total Hypocrisy And Disgrace!

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The Republican Party loves to wave the flag and talk about “patriotism”, but they are regularly against veterans receiving health care for their sacrifices since September 11.

They just, out of spite, worked yesterday against aid to soldiers exposed to toxic pits and other dangers in war zones, including in Afghanistan and Iraq after September 11.

It is shocking to see even so called “better” Republicans, such as Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse joining with outgoing Senators, such as Rob Portman, Pat Toomey, Richard Burr, Roy Blunt, and Richard Shelby, and all of the usual obnoxious Senators (including Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Rick Scott, and others) to vote against veterans’ health aid!

Only 8 Republican Senators supported the legislation yesterday, including Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, Marco Rubio, Jerry Moran, Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham, and two others!

The Three “Johns” Competing To Succeed Mitch McConnell As Senate Republican Leader In The Future

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Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will soon set the record as the longest serving Senate Republican leader, as Minority Leader and Majority Leader.

He is in his 16th year of party leadership, since the beginning of 2007, and if he remains the leader into 2023, he will surpass Democrat Mike Mansfield, who served from 1961-1977 as party leader.

Even if McConnell continues as party leader into next year, there is speculation about who would be his successor, with three “Johns” seen as in competition.

They are Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who serves as Minority Whip, and was elected in 2004, and is facing reelection this fall, at age 61. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1997-2003.

The second contender is Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who served as Minority Whip in past Congresses, and was first elected in 2002, and is age 70. He was on the Texas Supreme Court and Attorney General of Texas before coming to the Senate.

The third contender is Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, who is a orthopedic physician, and has served in the Senate since 2007, and is also age 70. He also has served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the third ranking position in leadership.

The Situation Facing Attorney General Merrick Garland

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There seems to be enough grounds to have Donald Trump prosecuted by the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland for the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

But indictment is the first step, while trial and conviction are much more complicated.

The charges that could be used to indict Donald Trump include:

Obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, the Electoral College vote by the Vice President of the United States

Seditious Conspiracy against the US government

Conspiracy to defraud the US Government, making fraudulent statements

The first two seem the most likely to move forward, but there is no certainty that such a case would be won in Court, and the Supreme Court, controlled by right wing conservatives, could rule in an appeal in favor of Donald Trump.

But if the thought is that prosecution would not succeed is the ultimate decision, then it sends a message to future Presidents that they can escape accountability.

It would set a standard that there are two systems of justice, so there are ramifications of prosecuting, including political turmoil, but also of choosing NOT to prosecute!

Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania Republican Gubernatorial Nominee, Clear And Present Danger!

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Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania, is seen as a clear and present danger, were he to be elected.

He is an extreme far right winger, promoting Christian nationalism, the idea that there is no separation of church and state, and he has embraced Q-Anon conspiracy theories.

Additionally, he was involved in the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021, and breached US Capitol police barriers, although claiming not being involved in assault and destruction.

He is Isamophobic, antisemitic, and homophobic, and has promoted September 11 conspiracy theories in the past.

Mastriano comes across as unhinged, and nine Pennsylvania Republicans have repudiated him as too extremist for them to support him, after he won the gubernatorial nomination with only 40 percent of the vote against multiple candidates more moderate than he is in his views.

He has only been a Pennsylvania State Senator since mid 2019, having spent his career in the military, reaching the level of Colonel in the US Army.

He opposed removal of Confederate monuments, and has been a bitter critic of COVID 19 Policies, including opposing masking, and promoting drug treatments that are shown to be sham.

Mastriano has made clear that if elected, he would appoint a Secretary of State who would only accept that the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024 won the state’s electoral votes, no matter what the popular vote demonstrates.

He is against any exceptions for abortion, including rape, incest, and life of the mother; and supports gun rights without restrictions; and is a major critic of the Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Also, Mastriano has said his governorship, if elected, would be much more right wing conservative than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, calling him an “amateur”!

Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro leads in polls, but every effort to prevent this right wing extremist from being elected must be mounted, as Mastriano’s election would be disastrous for Pennsylvania and American politics!

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post And Wall Street Journal Turn Against Trump, But What About Fox News Channel?

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Australian Mogul Rupert Murdoch, the infamous figure who owns the NY Post, Wall Street Journal, and Fox News Channel, has had a change of heart regarding Donald Trump, at least in regards to the first two named media sources.

It has taken a year and a half since the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection for Murdoch and his publications to condemn Donald Trump for the criminal actions that took place, in denial of zero evidence of an election that was a clearcut win for Joe Biden.

But one wonders: what about Fox News Channel, and its major hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and others?

Will they continue to be in strong support of Donald Trump as time moves on?

It will be interesting if there is a backing away of support, but it would not be surprising if contradictions would occur, as Rupert Murdoch is a man of no decency or principle or conscience!